Friday, April 24, 2009

to create (intransitive)

Grant Barrett, of here and there, wrote about 17 months ago to ask about the BrE intransitive use of create:

I've just come across an intransitive use of create that's Brit-specific. The Oxford Dictionary of English (not to be confused with the Oxford English Dictionary) defines it thus:

[no obj.] Brit. informal make a fuss; complain: "little kids create because they hate being ignored."

Sounds odd to my American ear.

Grant had read it in the Times, in this context (which discusses another term we've discussed before, wife beater):

"...Then suddenly - I'm not a snob - but we started getting all these loudmouthed yobs in. Younger drinkers, 19 to 30-year-olds, and builders and labourers.

"They weren't fighting - we'd never have let things get to that stage - but they were creating, and it was bad enough to make the other customers start leaving early."

When he wrote to me, I'd not experienced this sense of the word yet. But a month later, I had a child, and a few months after that, she started in childcare and we went through a little period where Grover was a bit too attached to her key worker. Whenever the carer went out of sight, Grover would start creating, they told me. Since then, I have heard it used about other children's tantrum-ish or whin(g)y behavio(u)r.

29 comments:

Partridge's Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (1956) dates this use of create to around 1910 and particularly by soldiers in WW1. He further states it comes from to create a disturbance or to create a fuss

Wow -- I lived in the UK until 11 years ago and I'd never ever heard this usage. I assumed that it must be some new-fangled creation and was somewhat astonished to see that it goes back to WWI! Perhaps it has become more common recently?

It's a relatively obvious usage, though, isn't it, just a contraction of 'create a fuss/disturbance'? It surprised me that anyone would find it worthy of note, to be honest!

And I have to admit, I've always found the US throwing about of the term 'graduate' deeply annoying. Call me parochial, but it seems utterly ridiculous to have (as I know the children of US friends have done) small children 'graduating' from pre-school - in the case of one NY little boy I know, wearing a mortarboard and gown, and clutching a rolled certificate in his toddler hand. And then, often, 'graduating' again from junior school, and from high school, before actually graduating from university, if they go.

School pupils become students (and graduate from school)Police constables become officersBank clerks become managers or executivesTypists become secretariesSecretaries become personal assistantsAssistant solicitors become associatesMatrons become directors of nursingGeneral managers become chief executive officersEtc.I am sure there are other examples.

Anon - you missed out the absolute best one: Starbucks baristas are known as partners. I have no idea if it's even a co-op - it seems unlikely - but even if it is that's all kinds of pretentious.

As for "creating" - lived in SE England all my 21 years and have never heard it. Has it got a particular region/class association? Sounds related to "starting (on s/o)" - giving someone aggro, as in that staple of saturday night repartee "oi mate, you star'in? d'you wan' some, do ya? c'mon'en!"

My reaction to "create" is identical to Johnny E's. But then my exposure to infants is mercifully slight.

Also, I would write "whingey" rather than "whingy" to indicate the rhyme with ..ahem.. "stingy". Likewise "mang(e)y".

And I could very well imagine using "graduate" for the Baby-Toddler transition, albeit jocularly. The OED has (added in 1993, sense 6b):To move on to a more advanced or exalted level, to rise in rank or grade; spec. in drug abuse, to progress to a more powerful drug.

And I could very well imagine using "graduate" for the Baby-Toddler transition, albeit jocularlyI agree. I think that the rule in British English is that "graduate" is used colloquially for an elevation of some sort, but academically only for University transitions.

@Picky: Please click on the link from 'BrE doesn't use graduate for sub-university transitions' in the post to get to one of the posts that answers your questions. Let's not go that far off-topic here, please!

A toddler may also 'create havoc', which is a bit - um - oxymoronic, and may be a variant of 'cause havoc'.This intransitive UK use doesn't seem to have a positive aspect, such as 'don't disturb Daddy, he's creating in his study'.

It just occurred to me that "create" in the sense of "whining" or "crying" might be the origin of "greeting", or "greetin'" in Scottish, used to describe the whining of a child. It's a possibility given that some Scottish dialects tend to stretch out the diphthong "ea" to something more akin to "ee".

I've only ever heard 'creating' used about small children too. It's not that unusual but quite old fashioned, from the school of 'poorly', which also only ever seems to be used by middle aged people to small children.

Incidentally I think the British distaste for the use of 'Graduate' in the high school context may be because finishing school is not an achievement in the UK- everyone does it, there isn't a definite pass/fail aspect (poor exam results don't preclude a pupil from having completed their schooling)

It's been my experience that the usage of 'create' is less about age and more about location, as are many words in Britain. While living in Northumberland or Whitechapel I never heard the usage, yet in Essex I do. But not a lot, it must be said. I do remember the first time I heard it, a friend was referring to naughty children and I knew immediately what she meant. It just made sense to me--the kids were certainly creating something and it wasn't good!

I'm wondering if BrE 'creating' is similar to AmE 'fussing'? In the UK, 'to fuss' is to go to a lot of (unnecessary) effort to get things 'just so'. But I think in the US it can mean 'to make a fuss' or 'to cry'? Might the two words be halves of the same expression 'to create a fuss'?

I've heard "create" in the sense of "throw a childish tantrum" once or twice from my husband. He grew up in the 1940s in both Poole (Dorset) and Australia, and lived a lot of his life in London and many other places, so I'm never quite sure where he's picked up vocabulary from.